NEWS: Orion @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle

Follow the intriguing story of the Man Who Would Be King

By NARC.
on Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Everyone’s heard of Elvis Presley and everyone knows at least a handful of his songs. I’m sure it’s been scientifically proven that even aliens living on Mars know about everything from Hound Dog to Suspicious Minds. I’ll bet you might not have heard of a man named called Jimmy Ellis though. Strangely, though, Elvis is intertwined with Ellis’ life in strange and fascinating ways and it’s a story that acclaimed documentary filmmaker Jeanie Finlay is bringing to the screen.

Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, takes a look at how Ellis – an unknown singer from a small town in Alabama plucked from obscurity – was thrust into the limelight when he was chosen to impersonate Elvis and pretend he was the King back from the dead. Sounds crazy, right? The story is more than a seemingly farfetched tale of death, glamour and lies though. It also examines the manipulative schemes of the music industry, the allure of fantasy and one man’s eternal search for identity.

On Friday, a screening of Finlay’s latest film will be followed by a Q&A in which the documentary will be explored more thoroughly and there’ll be a chance to ask about the director’s work in general.